Italian wine names sound like nursery rhymes

A friend, whom I consider an experienced wine drinker, came to me in frustration recently, stymied by the plethora of Italian wines.

Barbera, Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello - what's the difference and how do you find a good one without paying a fortune?

Many good Italian wines are pricey, and choosing can be difficult, because some wines are named for the districts in which they are produced, and others are named for the grape variety.

The better Italian wines come from a few select districts, such as Tuscany and Piedmont. Although the names seem similar, beginning with Bs, their characters run the gamut from A to Z.

From the Piedmont district of northwest Italy comes the barbera grape, which makes medium to full-bodied reds. "Barbera is a wine that we sell well," says Gloria Cabral- Jordan of La Trattoria Café de Napoli in Fort Myers. "I bought a case of this 2005 Barbera from a small Italian estate, Bricco dei Tati, and sold out in a few days." That's impressive for a 25-seat restaurant.

Frank Pulice of Austin's Wine Cellar also is a fan of Italian wines, and is particularly fond of 2005 De Forville Barbera d'Alba.

Antinori Tignanello 2004 "I grew up on Italian wine," he says, "and the one I admire the most is Barolo, from the Piedmont. It goes well with foods that have complex, big flavors."

Barolo is a full-bodied Piedmont red made from the nebbiolo grape, and is sometimes called the king of wines and the wine of kings. High in tannins, acidity and alcohol, Barolo is fragrant, big, and a favorite with serious wine collectors. Traditionally, Barolo needs at least 10 years of bottle aging to soften up, although some modern producers make more fruitforward wine with shorter fermentation time, resulting in wine that is ready to drink at a younger age. By law, Barolo must age for 4 years before it is sold.

Barbaresco, another fullbodied Piedmont red, is also made with nebbiolo grapes. Barbaresco could be called the queen of wine from this district, with more finesse and elegance, and usually needs less aging than Barolo. Gattinara, another nebbiolo-based wine from Piedmont, is usually priced much lower than Barolo and Barbaresco. Gattinara once enjoyed the same fine reputation that Barolo now holds, has an intense dark red color, is smooth and round in the mouth, and is perfect with big fullflavored dishes and cheeses.

Barbera Bricco dei Tati While Tuscany is best known for its straw-covered Chianti bottles, the best wine is Brunello di Montalcino, made with sangiovese grosso. Fragrant, velvety smooth and possessing a great bouquet, brunello originally was made only by Biondi-Santi, starting in the mid-1800s, and was only released in those rare years when the vintage was considered the highest quality. Today there are hundreds of producers of Brunello and its secondary wine, Rosso di Montalcino, which requires less aging and is therefore less expensive but nearly as good.

This district's "super Tuscan" wines have become quite trendy.

They are made by the quality estates and do not conform to Italian wine laws. For instance, they might contain less than 80 percent sangiovese grape, or might include grapes like cabernet and merlot, or those grown outside the recognized geographic boundaries of the district. Flamboyant and powerful, these were developed starting in the 1970s to offer higher quality wines than Chianti, which at that time could have white grapes added to smooth it out and extend the production.

To add to the confusion, vino Nobile d'Montepulciano is from Tuscany and made from sangiovese grapes, while Montepulciano d'Abruzzo hails from further south, east of Rome. It is made from the Montepulciano grape, and is lighter bodied and softer than its similarly named northern cousin.

Cabral-Jordan says San Lorenzo Montepulciano is also popular among her customers.

"People like the price and it is easy to drink," she says.

The rest of Italy makes a lot of good to great wine as well, from the Alps down to Sicily. But we'll have to address those in future columns.

Wine picks of the week

>>Antinori Toscana Tignanello 2004: This is the first super Tuscan ever made, starting in 1971, and continues to be the gold standard for this style. Made from sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, it's dark and concentrated with blackberry and spice flavors. About $90.

>>Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia 2004: This is another fine super Tuscan, but made with no sangiovese at all. Bordeaux style with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot, and grown by the Frescobaldi family, this wine is full-bodied, complex and dark ruby in color. About $150.

>>Barbera Bricco dei Tati 2005: Young, fresh and fruity, with cherry and spice. A great value wine. About $15.

>>Pio Cesare Barolo 2003: Blackberry, oak and a long finish distinguish this selection, from one of the best producers in the district. About $70.